The sky was dark.
Inside Rong Province City, the battle that had lasted for almost a whole day finally subsided.
Two soldiers from the Shannan Army escorted Guo Jiwang into the main hall.
Xu Rong turned to Guo Jiwang: "You're the person Wu Shuangren left in Rong Province City in charge, and you were also in command of today's battle?"
Although Guo Jiwang had been captured, he remained calm. "Yes, it was me."
A murderous intent flashed in Xu Rong's eyes!
He gave Xue Ting three hundred elite troops, including fifty of his own heavily armored personal guards. He thought the street fighting in the city would end in half an hour at most, but it dragged on for more than two hours!
Guo Jiwang used the street terrain and large carts to block the roads, constantly wearing down Xue Ting's troops.
Finally, all the powerful crossbows and magic crossbows were concentrated to ambush Xue Ting, and then several hundred veteran soldiers attacked from the front and rear, almost causing Xue Ting to be defeated and killed!
In the end, it was only thanks to Xue Ting's First Rate -notch skills that he managed to fight his way out and lead the team back.
Next, Xu Rong personally directed the operation, proceeding steadily and step by step.
Guo Jiwang countered each move with a tenacious resistance, employing a variety of tactics that caused Xu Rong considerable trouble!
However, Xu Rong ultimately prevailed thanks to his superior equipment, elite soldiers, and individual martial prowess, capturing Guo Jiwang alive.
After breaching the city gates of Rong Province City, Xu Rong's cavalry suffered few casualties. However, in the ensuing street fighting, they suffered over a hundred casualties, including many of Xu Rong's own personal guards!
How could this not arouse Xu Rong's murderous intent?
"Are you Wu Shuangren's strategist?"
Xu Rong asked.
"Right."
"You've probably never commanded urban warfare before, have you?"
Xu Rong asked again.
Although Guo Jiwang caused him a lot of trouble, he judged from some details that the man probably had no experience in urban warfare.
"Right."
Guo Jiwang nodded again.
This only made it more stunning, which made Xu Rong feel a sense of appreciation for talent.
"I'll give you a chance. Join me in killing Wu Shuangren, and I can make you a staff officer in my Shannan Army."
Xu Rong said.
Guo Jiwang softly, saying nothing, but his meaning was clear.
Xu Rong wasn't annoyed, and sneered, "You're a smart man. Do you really think that staying in a mere local militia would have a better future than staying in the Shannan Army?"
Guo Jiwang exchanged a half-smile with Xu Rong: "If General Xu thinks the Yi Province Militia are just 'mere' local militias, why did you suddenly lead your troops back to fight this time?"
By this time, he had figured it out.
The only reason Xu Rong might choose to turn against Wu Shuangren is because he feels Wu Shuangren poses too great a threat!
"You are indeed a smart person."
Xu Rong's expression changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "Then you should understand even more that when a person dies, they have nothing left!"
"..."
Guo Jiwang pursed his lips and remained silent.
Xu Rong stared at him. "You have time to consider until Wu Shuangren returns with his troops. Once he arrives, if you still can't give me a satisfactory answer, I'll kill you in front of him!"
After saying that, he waved his hand.
Two soldiers from the Shannan Army led Guo Jiwang away from the main hall.
"General, do you really want to recruit this man?"
A general walked into the hall and asked.
Xu Rong said calmly, "This person is a talented individual, and he probably holds a high position in Wu Shuangren's heart. Even if we can't recruit him, keeping him around can be used to deal with Wu Shuangren later."
Upon hearing this, the general suddenly understood and cupped his hands in greeting, saying:
"General, you are wise!"
184. In turbulent times, dare to be a hero!
As dusk fell, the sun began to set.
A figure sped along the official road.
This man was dressed in full iron armor and wielded a long spear; each step he took covered a distance of ten feet!
Steam rose from his armor, but his breathing remained steady, with no discernible pauses between breaths. If someone approached, a series of low rumbling sounds could be faintly heard from within his body.
The heavens cycle endlessly, Thunder Sound never cease!
This is the mark of First Rank expert. This person is Zhang Liao, who left the Shannan Army to deliver a message to Wu Shuangren.
He hadn't brought any concentrated feed, and his warhorse couldn't travel for long, so after riding for a whole day, he estimated that there wasn't much distance left and simply abandoned the horse to continue on his own!
First Rate expert can unleash speed faster than a galloping horse in a short period of time, but the consumption of Internal Skill is very high and cannot be sustained.
First Rank expert's physique undergoes a complete transformation, and the time they can continuously activate their Internal Skill is much longer than that of Second Rank- or Third Rank martial artist.
Within a hundred miles, the speed of First Rank expert is stronger than that of many warhorses.
If First Rank expert has a large supply of special pills, they can travel hundreds of miles a day, even if they have more than a hundred miles to travel!
Zhang Liao didn't have any special pills to replenish a martial artist's energy; these were in Xu Rong's hands. So he could only ride a horse for most of the distance, and then run the remaining distance on foot.
After running for about half an hour, Zhang Liao saw the grain transport team ahead.
Overjoyed, he immediately rushed forward, identified himself, and said he had important information to tell Wu Shuangren!
A moment later, Zhang Liao and a scout from a cavalry battalion, each on horseback, set off to catch up with the main force of the Yi Province Militia.
The main force was about half a day ahead of the grain transport troops. As darkness fell completely, Zhang Liao and the cavalry scouts finally arrived.
At this time, Wu Shuangren had already led the Yi Province Militia to set up camp and rest by the roadside.
A moment later, Zhang Liao finally met Wu Shuangren.
"General Zhang?"
Wu Shuangren looked at Zhang Liao with surprise, completely unexpected that the other party would suddenly come to find him.
What Zhang Liao said next was even more unexpected:
"Militia Commander Wu, Xu Rong has led his troops back to Rong Province City. He's going to deal with the people you left behind in Rong Province City!"
Wu Shuangren's expression changed drastically. "What did you say?!"
So Zhang Liao relayed Xu Rong's words from the previous night to Wu Shuangren verbatim.
"..."
Upon hearing Wu Shuangren's eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Xu Rong's move was indeed completely unexpected. The two had already reached a preliminary agreement on the future armor business, and Wu Shuangren was even willing to offer one hundred taels of silver for each set of heavy equipment like infantry armor!
Once the business between the two sides takes off, it's no exaggeration to say that Xu Rong will earn more than ten times the money he made on this expedition in the next few years!
After all, Xu Rong couldn't keep all the spoils from this expedition for himself; he had to take the lion's share back as a tribute to Wang Yan, the commander-in-chief who led the troops.
As long as Xu Rong secretly establishes contact with Wu Shuangren, he can make the majority of the money from this deal.
Anyone who truly values profit has no reason to turn against Wu Shuangren.
Yi Prefecture City, the conflict between the two sides stemmed from money.
The standoff between the two sides in Rong Province City was still over money.
Grudges formed over interests are ultimately resolved through mutual benefit.
Wu Shuangren's response was flawless, and Xu Rong's overall demeanor completely convinced people that he was willing to do this deal with Wu Shuangren.
So Wu Shuangren was caught off guard when he suddenly stabbed her in the back.
"To rid the country of traitors?"
Wu Shuangren sneered, "Am I not now eliminating traitors for the country?"
Zhang Liao pursed his lips and said in a deep voice, "I simply cannot accept this kind of backstabbing of colleagues, which is why I parted ways with Xu Rong!"
Wu Shuangren out of his daze and bowed solemnly to Zhang Liao: "General Wu Shuangren's kindness today will be forever remembered!"
After saying that, he turned around without hesitation, took out an iron box from his bundle, and took out two pills the size of eggs from the box, handing them to Zhang Liao: "These are pills for martial artists. General Zhang, you must have suffered considerable losses from your journey. Take these first."
Zhang Liao took the pill and, without ceremony, swallowed one in front of Wu Shuangren.
"General Zhang, please take a breath and I'll go get someone."
Wu Shuangren nodded to Zhang Liao, turned and walked out of the tent, instructing his personal guards to inform Xu Jing, Wu Dongrong, and the others to come over.
A moment later, Xu Jing, Wu Dongrong, Liao Yu, and Xu Nanzhi entered the tent.
Seeing Zhang Liao sitting cross-legged on the ground meditating, the group was somewhat surprised, but none of them showed any emotion.
"Xu Rong stabbed us in the back; he has now led his troops back to Rong Province City!"
Wu Shuangren got straight to the point.
"That bastard!"
Liao Yu was the first to angrily curse.
Xu Jing and Wu Dongrong also looked very unpleasant.
All three were military personnel and shared a deep abhorrence of such backstabbing!
Whatever the reason, it is a fact that Wu Shuangren is now leading the Yi Province Militia to help the Shannan Army fight against the Mount Liang rebels.
Xu Rong's decision not to pursue the Mount Liang people at this crucial moment, but instead to turn his blade against the Yi Province Militia, is truly infuriating!
"General Zhang, disgusted by Xu Rong's actions, fled the enemy camp overnight to deliver the message to me."
Wu Shuangren pointed to Zhang Liao, who was meditating to the side, and said.
Zhang Liao had stopped regulating his breathing and stood up.
General Zhang is truly righteous!
Xu Jing and the others clasped their hands in a salute to Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao returned the greeting with a smile.
Do you think Xu Rong can take Rong Province City?
Wu Shuangren asked the question that worried her the most.
Xu Jing spoke first, saying, "Xu Rong is probably planning a surprise attack, trying to create a time difference so that we can't get back in time and Rong Province City is unaware of his plans, thus seizing the city in one fell swoop."
Wu Shuangren said confidently, "I trust Mr. Guo; he wouldn't be unprepared. If Xu Rong is just trying to exploit a loophole, he won't succeed!"
Wu Dongrong spoke up at this moment, "The problem is that Xu Rong has already prepared to turn against us and has ambushed elite troops in Rong Province City beforehand."
Wu Shuangren's expression changed slightly.
Although he had great confidence in Guo Jiwang, the outcome was uncertain if Xu Rong had indeed laid an ambush with elite troops beforehand.
The Yi Prefecture City was also breached from within in the same way.
Throughout history, at least seven out of ten siege battles have been breached from within!
"Order the entire army to set off tonight and return to Rong Province City!"
Wu Shuangren issued the order.
If he continued the pursuit, he was confident that he could catch up with the fleeing Mount Liang forces in a day at most, and seize a large amount of armor and weapons, and even warhorses.
But now, none of that matters anymore.